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The history of Arkansas began millennia ago when humans first crossed into North America. Many tribes used Arkansas as their hunting lands but the main tribe was the Quapaw, who settled in the Arkansas River delta upon moving south from Illinois. Early French explorers gave the territory its name, a corruption of Akansea, which is a phonetic spelling from the Illinois language word for the Quapaw. This phonetic heritage explains why "Arkansas" is pronounced so differently than the U.S. state of "Kansas" even though they share the same spelling.
The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox, says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep South."
John Gray Lucas was a lawyer and a state legislator in Arkansas during the early 20th century. He was appointed Assistant U.S. attorney in Cook County in 1934. Born in Marshall, Texas, in 1864, he eventually moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He graduated from Branch Normal College of Arkansas Industrial University. He then got his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1887, graduating with honors as the only African-American student in his class. He moved to Chicago.
Lycurgus Johnson (1818-1876) was an American cotton planter and large slaveholder in the Arkansas Delta during the antebellum years. Born to the powerful political and planter Johnson family in Scott County, Kentucky, he became the owner and developer of the Lakeport Plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas. It bordered the west bank of the Mississippi River.
The Sunnyside Plantation was a former cotton plantation and is a historic site, located near Lake Village in Chicot County, Arkansas, in the Arkansas Delta region.
Elisha Worthington was an American planter and large slaveholder in the Antebellum South. He was the owner of the Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas.
F. H. Fyall was a state Representative in the U.S. state of Georgia during the Reconstruction era. He was one of the Original 33 African Americans elected as legislators in Georgia.
Hugh C. Newsome was a teacher, postal clerk, city marshall, and state legislator in Arkansas. In 1887, he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Reuben C. Weddington was an American state representative in Arkansas. A Republican, he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1891. He represented Desha County.
Benjamin Frank Adair was a lawyer who served in the Arkansas Legislature in 1891 representing Pulaski County.
John H. Carr was a farmer and member of the Arkansas Legislature in 1891. He represented Phillips County, Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1891.
Jacob N. Donohoo was an American state politician and banker in Arkansas. He served several terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives after first winning election in 1876 when he was 22. He helped fundraise for the Masonic Temple in Pine Bluff, part of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons.
George W. Lowe was an American politician minister and served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. He represented Monroe County, Arkansas and served in the 1889 and 1891 sessions.
Henry Augustus Johnson was a justice of the peace, sheriff, and state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Chicot County in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1891. He was included in a photo montage and series of profiles of African American state legislators serving in Arkansas in 1891 published in The Freeman newspaper in Indianapolis. Several were African American.
George Waltham Bell was an American doctor who served in the Arkansas Senate from 1891 to 1895. He was a graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He served as president of Southland College.
Willard Badgett Gatewood Jr. was a history professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas and an author.
The 1894 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on September 3, 1894.
The 1892 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on September 5, 1892.
African Americans have played an essential role in the history of Arkansas, but their role has often been marginalized as they confronted a society and polity controlled by white supremacists. During the slavery era to 1865, they were considered property and were subjected to the harsh conditions of forced labor. After the Civil War and the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Reconstuction Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, African Americans gained their freedom and the right to vote. However, the rise of Jim Crow laws in the 1890s and early 1900s led to a period of segregation and discrimination that lasted into the 1960s. Most were farmers, working their own property or poor sharecroppers on white-owned land, or very poor day laborers. By World War I, there was steady emigration from farms to nearby cities such as Little Rock and Memphis, as well as to St. Louis and Chicago.
Hal B. Burton was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Jefferson County, Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1887. He was a Republican.
References
- ↑ "Arkansas Historical Quarterly". February 15, 1985 – via Google Books.
- ↑ "CONTENTdm".
- ↑ Gatewood, Willard B.; Gatewood, Willard G. (1972). "Negro Legislators in Arkansas, 1891: A Document". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 31 (3): 220–233. doi:10.2307/40038091. JSTOR 40038091 – via JSTOR.
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